Periodically, you’ll be seeing some new voices on this site as we add occasional contributors. Today: Dan Lamothe, who blogs at Red Sox Monster.

I’m going to go ahead and assume you’re all familiar with Kevin Johnson, the former Suns star who is running for mayor in his hometown of Sacramento, Calif.

If you’ve missed the proceedings leading up to the June 3 election, there’s no love lost between Johnson and incumbent Mayor Heather Fargo at this point. A race that started with Johnson, 42, expressing concern that Fargo has failed to address violent crime, a $58 million city budget deficit and home foreclosures has morphed into a battle in which Johnson has had to respond to sexual misconduct allegations and criticism over his position on gay marriage.

At the same time, Johnson has tried to tie the mayor to an ominous Web site that drags up old allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl while he was 29-year-old point guard. No charges were ever filed in connection with the alleged incident, but police tapes detailed in this story have led the story’s author in Phoenix to call Johnson out as “tainted” again this week.

That’s the background. But it’s also important to note the widespread support KJ has with the business community, from which he has secured several high-profile endorsements, including nods from the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento Central Labor Council. A helpful chip, obviously — until Magic Johnson, David Stern and a possible new home for the Sacramento Kings enter the equation. Then it becomes huge.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the NBA and officials from Cal Expo, California’s state fairgrounds, reached a preliminary agreement on Friday to begin exploring whether a new stadium for the Kings can be built on the fairgrounds as part of a massive entertainment complex. Nothing is set in stone, but it follows much more closely in line with suggestions Johnson has made than with what Fargo has proposed (she’d rather see a new arena as part of planned development in the city’s vacant downtown railyard).

There’s also this: Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley have both voiced support for KJ, with the mayoral hopeful also hinting that Magic would infuse Sacramento with cash:

He said he is talking to friend and former NBA player Earvin “Magic” Johnson about investing in urban development in Sacramento. Johnson’s Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, formed in 1998, has raised $2 billion and invested in 30 development projects in major U.S. cities, according to the firm.

Any chance Fargo can match that? Not likely, and that’s a big hurdle to overcome.